kingdom of Fazughli
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The kingdom of Fazughli was a
precolonial Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
state in what is now southeastern
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and western
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. Oral traditions assert its establishment to refugees from the
Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...
kingdom of
Alodia Alodia, also known as Alwa ( grc-gre, Aρουα, ''Aroua''; ar, علوة, ''ʿAlwa''), was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of ...
, after its capital
Soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour. In Japan, soba noodles can be found i ...
had fallen to
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
or the
Funj The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...
in . Centered around the mountainous region of Fazughli on the
Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...
and serving as a buffer between the
Funj sultanate The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...
and the
Ethiopian empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
, the kingdom lasted until its incorporation into the Funj sultanate in 1685.


History


Formation

In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, large parts of central and southern
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, including the region of Fazughli on the border with
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, were controlled by the
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...
kingdom of
Alodia Alodia, also known as Alwa ( grc-gre, Aρουα, ''Aroua''; ar, علوة, ''ʿAlwa''), was a medieval kingdom in what is now central and southern Sudan. Its capital was the city of Soba, located near modern-day Khartoum at the confluence of ...
. Since the 12th century Alodia had been in decline, a decline which would have been well advanced by 1300. In the 14th and 15th century
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
tribes overran most of
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, pushing as far south as
Aba Island Aba Island is an island on the White Nile to the south of Khartoum, Sudan. It is the original home of the Mahdi in Sudan and the spiritual base of the Umma Party. History Aba Island was the birthplace of the Mahdiyya, first declared on J ...
. By the second half of the 15th century virtually the whole of Alodia had been settled by Arabs except of the area around
Soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour. In Japan, soba noodles can be found i ...
, the capital of Alodia at the confluence of the
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
and
White Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
. Soba was eventually conquered by the Arabs or the African
Funj The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue () was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern E ...
, with Sudanese sources dating that event to the 9th century after the Hijra ( 1396–1494), the late 15th century, 1504 and 1509. The Funj then established a
sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...
with
Sennar Sennar ( ar, سنار ') is a city on the Blue Nile in Sudan and possibly the capital of the state of Sennar. It remains publicly unclear whether Sennar or Singa is the capital of Sennar State. For several centuries it was the capital of the F ...
as its capital, which would extend as far north as the third Nile cataract. Historian Jay Spaulding suggests that Alodia outlived the fall of Soba. He believes that the "kingdom of Soba" mentioned by the
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
traveller
David Reubeni David Reubeni (1490–1535/1541?) was a Jewish political activist, described by the ''Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia'' as "half- mystic, half-adventurer." Although some scholars are reluctant to believe his claims to nobility, citing suspicions ...
in 1523 is a reference to Alodia and believes it to be located somewhere on the east bank of the Blue Nile. This "kingdom of Soba" had a territory at a distance of ten days' journey and encompassed the "kingdom of Al Ga'l", which was described as subordinate to
Amara Dunqas Amara Dunqas was the first ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar, which he ruled from 1504 - 1533/4. "Dunqas" is an epithet meaning "bent down, with an inclined head", referring to the way of how he required his subjects to approach him. According to Jam ...
, sultan of Sennar. "Al Ga'l" is probably a reference to the Arab Jaalin tribe. Using oral traditions, Spaulding continues to argue that the Alodians eventually abandoned the territory they still held in the lower Blue Nile valley and retreated to the mountainous region of Fazughli in the south, where they reestablished their kingdom. One tradition collected in the 19th century, for example, recalls that: Local traditions also remember Alodian migrations towards Fazughli. Fazughli as a place of Nubian exile is also mentioned in the
Funj Chronicle The ''Funj Chronicle'' is an Arabic history of the Funj Sultanate and the early years of Ottoman rule in the Sudan. It originally covered the period from 1504 to 1838, but continuations bring it down to 1871. It has been translated into English. ...
, compiled around 1870. An archaeological culture named the "Jebel Mahadid tradition", centered around Mahadid in Qwara, western Ethiopia, with monumental architecture and pottery similar to that found in Soba, has very recently been attributed to these Alodian refugees. Considering the archaeological evidence it has been suggested that they had already started arriving in the Ethiopian-Sudanese borderlands by the 14th century. Thus they would have arrived when Alodia was still existing, but was already in severe decline.


Between Sennar and Ethiopia

The kingdom of Fazughli was located between the sultanate of Sennar and the
Ethiopian empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historical ...
, serving as a buffer between these two states. Africanist Alessandro Triulzi describes the approximate extension of the kingdom as follows: Its territory would have been inhabited predominantly by speakers of
Eastern Sudanic languages In most classifications, the Eastern Sudanic languages are a group of nine families of languages that may constitute a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Eastern Sudanic languages are spoken from southern Egypt to northern Tanzania. Nub ...
. According to Spaulding, it maintained the Christian faith, at least among the ruling Alodian elite. According to him, this Alodian elite would become known as the Hamaj, but it also might be possible that it was in fact the bulk of the Fazughlian population that constituted the Hamaj. Fazughli was famous for its gold. A
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
source from 1607 states that it had "much fine gold and good horses exchanging trade with the (Ethiopian) empire." Another one published in 1622 records that "(...) it is certain fact, as everyone says and Emperor Seltan Cagued ( Susenyos) has told me, that the finest gold in all his lands is from the kingdom of Fazcolo". It would have been its gold, however, that caught the attention of its neighbors, and both Ethiopia and Sennar would make periodic, but yet mostly ungrounded claims that Fazughli's gold fields were in their respective domains. Nevertheless, the period from the late 15th to early 17th century would have been a troubled one for the Ethiopian-Sudanse borderlands, as is reflected by the "Jebel Mahadid tradition" settlements, which were not only located on naturally defended positions, but were also protected by additional defensive systems. The Hamaj are recorded to have been involved in the Abyssinian–Adal war, being allied to the people of
Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...
in northern Ethiopia, near
Kassala Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabita ...
. During the reign of sultan Dakin (1568-1585) there was said to be an expedition to Abu Ramlah, just south of Mahadid. Dakin was defeated and when he returned to Sennar he was confronted with Ajib, an ambitious minor prince of northern
Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
. First Ajib acquired greater autonomy, then he eventually vassalized the Funj sultans and finally, in 1606, he invaded the Gezira and pushed the current sultan,
Abd al-Qadir II Abd al-Qadir II was a ruler of the Kingdom of Sennar (1603/4 - 1606). According to James Bruce, he was the son of Unsa I, whom Bruce describes as "a weak and ill-inclined man". While he was ruler of Sennar, Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia sent to Abd ...
, into Ethiopia. An oral tradition recalls that Ajib founded several mosques in what would have been Fazughlian territory, which, if the tradition is accurate, might suggest a Fazughlian involvement in the power struggle between Ajib and Sennar, possibly by taking sides with Ajib. If an intrusion of Ajib's forces into Fazughlian territory occurred it would have been of short duration, without lasting consequences. Ajib was eventually killed in battle in 1611–1612. In 1615, Fazughli is said to have been conquered by the Ethiopian emperor Susenyos, which, according to Spaulding, resulted in the loss of its independence. Mahadid is attested to have been destroyed in the 16th or early 17th century, which can possibly be attributed to the Ethiopians or the Funj. The Ethiopian emperors attempted to integrate Fazughli into the realm, but within seventy years, with the death of Emperor
Yohannes I Yohannes I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ዮሐንስ), also known as Yohannes the Righteous (Ge'ez: ጻድቁ ዮሐንስ), throne name A'ilaf Sagad (Ge'ez: አእላፍ ሰገድ; 1640 – 19 July 1682) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1667 to 1682, and ...
, Ethiopia had lost control over Fazughli. With the decline of Ethiopian influence Sennar attempted to fill the vacuum. In 1685 "the Hameg princelings of Fazughli" were subdued by Sennar.


Fazughli under the Funj

It is recorded that the Funj retained the current ruler of Fazughli instead of replacing him with a new provincial governor. As vassals of Sennar, the governors of Fazughli received the title of ''manjil''. According to Spaulding, the Hamaj remained Christian for at least a generation after the conquest, but by the mid-18th century they had converted to Islam. A Christian princedom, Shaira, was said to have existed in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border area as late as the early 1770s. Integrated into the sultanate of Sennar, the Hamaj would become one of its most dominant ethnic groups and Fazughli, together with the two other southern provinces of
Kordofan Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory di ...
and Alays, became its most important province, which was mostly due to the significance of its gold for Sennar's economy. In 1761–1762 Muhammad Abu Likayik, a military commander originating from Fazughli, assembled a "heterogenous collection of neo-Alodian noblemen, warlords, slave soldiers, merchants, and fuqara (religious teachers)" and seized control of the sultanate, initiating the
Hamaj Regency The Hamaj Regency ( ar, وصاية ٱلهمج ) was a political order in the region of modern-day central Sudan from 1762 to 1821. During this period the ruling family of the Funj Sultanate of Sennar continued to reign, while actual power was exerc ...
, which lasted until the Turko-Egyptian invasion of 1821.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last=Zarroug , first=Mohi El-Din Abdalla , title=The Kingdom of Alwa , year=1991 , publisher=University of Calgary , isbn=0-919813-94-1


Further reading

* Spaulding, Jay L. (1980)
"Toward a Demystification of the Funj: Some Perspectives on Society in Southern Sinnar, 1685–1900"
''Northeast African Studies''. Michigan State University Press. 2 (1): 1–18. ISSN 0740-9133. History of Sudan History of Ethiopia Coptic Orthodox Church